Bibliometric tools are used to measure the importance and impact of scholarly research by analyzing publication and citation patterns. Students will be introduced to key concepts and uses of bibliometrics, look at some of the main tools used, and gain some understanding of the issues and limitations.

Activities will include looking at tools based on Web of Science (the impact factor, Journal Citation Reports) and Scopus (Journal Analyzer, h-index). Altmetrics (or alternative metrics), a new field that expands bibliometric analysis to scholarly interactions in social media, will also be examined.

Mindy Thuna, Science Liasion Librarian, UTM & Pam King, Digital Research & Scholarly Communication Librarian, UTM. Pam & Mindy are the authors of the recent CARL publication, Altmetrics in Context (December 2013).